Christmas Eve A Nice Mess!
by Monika11
Summary: It's Christmas Eve and Starsky and Hutch are meeting Santa Claus.


I want to take the chance to thank all my friends who supported and encouraged me with their feedback this past year:

Eli, Starsky's Strut, Kreek, Nelleke, Karen B., Becky, Bobbie, Higgy, Delia, aussie angie, merryw, Jan, Rainey, Trish, Pony, M.Willow, Kirsty Welsh, Shawne.

Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year!

Monika

* * *

**Christmas Eve – A Nice Mess!**  
.

By Monika

.  
Hutch yawned. This stake-out was the last thing  
he needed on Christmas Eve. They had been waiting  
for hours now in front of Amboy's residence but it  
seemed that the suspect had vanished into thin air. On  
the other hand it was half the battle  
sitting in the Torino instead of being forced to  
attend the Christmas party at the precinct, where  
his colleagues sang Christmas carols and exchanged little  
gifts.

Hutch had never felt comfortable with this kind of  
artificial joy. The past year had been hard for Hutch  
and his partner. Hutch still suffered from his  
addiction to heroin. Though he had been forced  
he sometimes felt like a junkie. Starsky had helped  
him get through the "cold turkey" and showed  
him that nothing had changed between them.

With a sigh Hutch looked at the sleeping partner  
by his side. Starsky had kept the ability to forget  
the awful things and to cherish instead what life had  
given him. Hutch remembered that night  
in the Italian restaurant. Starsky had been shot there  
and though hurting badly he had crawled on  
all fours to help Hutch. Starsky had worked hard  
on his recovery and then with this Christmas coming nearer  
he was full of joy, decorating his place, his desk at  
the precinct – and even his car.

Hutch couldn't handle the bad things so easily.  
This time of the year he was always reminded of  
his youth in Duluth. He had wealthy parents and there had been

a huge Christmas  
tree every year, a lot of presents for him and his  
younger sister. But there had never been a  
cordial atmosphere. Too often his father had been  
absent – maybe on business trips and the sad face of  
his mother had shown Hutch that she wasn't happy at  
all. She concentrated on organizing charity parties  
while a housemaid took care of the children.

Since then Hutch had disliked, with a passion,  
all the festivities referring to Christmas.

* * *

Starsky stirred and let his head drop against the side  
window. Not a comfortable position Hutch thought.  
He looked over to Amboy's mansion and decided to call  
it a night.

"Starsk, wake up. It's over. I'll log us out.  
Obviously Amboy has better things to do than meet  
us."

"Wha…?" Starsky mumbled, looked at his  
watch and said with a smile: "Hutch, it's  
Christmas Eve and in the morning we'll have presents –  
let's go to my place, okay?"

He turned the radio on and soon Christmas carols  
filled the air.

Hutch rolled his eyes and started the car.

The houses on both sides of the street looked  
peaceful, decorated with lights and illuminated  
figures. Slowly Hutch turned round the next corner  
only half listening to Starsky's  
enthusiasm about the reindeers and  
Santa Clauses in the gardens, when suddenly Starsky  
said in an urgent voice: "Didn't ya hear what I told  
you? Over there, look, somebody's broken the  
window from the inside of the house and is running  
over the lawn! Must be a  
burglar!"

In a second Hutch stopped the car and both  
detectives rushed out of the car to follow the  
man.

"Freeze! Police!" Starsky shouted now fully  
awake. The man came to a halt and turned round.

Then the unexpected happened.

The man came with open arms toward them.

"You're the police? Thank goodness! Am I happy to see  
you!" His stubbled face  
lit up. He was about 60 years old and he wore a shabby coat.He tugged on Hutch's sleeve and pointed back to the house  
he had just escaped from.

"There's an old woman. She's nuts. She thought I was  
Santa Clause and she almost shot me – with my gun!"

The old man's legs began to wobble  
and Starsky led the man to their car.

"Calm down, and sit down. Now tell us: You broke  
into that house, right?"

The man nodded exhausted.

"Yeah, you know, I was hungry and I thought maybe I  
could get something…"

Starsky and Hutch both leaned against the car door,  
looked down at the man and said in unison: "And then?"

"Well," the man nervously moved his hands, "I went  
inside through a little open window. It was dark in  
the house; nobody at home I thought. Then I saw  
the Christmas tree with all the presents under it. I  
always carry a sac with me and so I grabbed all the  
presents and put them into it. Somehow I lost track  
of time when I saw the modelrailway on the floor. As  
a child I loved playing… – anyway. Suddenly an old  
woman was standing in the doorway. She said:  
"You must be Santa Claus! How wonderful, that I have  
the chance to meet you at my age."

Then she offered me an eggnog, was  
very friendly and told me that her eyes were  
not very good and her hearing not much better  
either but that she knew exactly what I had in  
the sac: All the presents for the family! And she took  
out all the things I had just put into the sac and  
ohhhed and awwwed about each item she  
saw. "Oh, that must be the pearl necklace for me –  
and that is the camera John always wanted to have!  
Thank you, Santa Claus, you are so wonderful."

I felt terrible – but what could I do? I decided  
to play along.

The old woman got more and more excited when she found  
all the other presents in the sac. She put them under  
the Christmas tree, smiled at me and was about to give  
me the sac when she realized that there was still  
something in it. She grabbed for it and it took my  
breath away!

My gun! She had found my loaded gun!"

Starsky and Hutch locked glances. The man gave a sigh.  
"And then she smiled, looked at the gun and said  
softly: "That must be the gadget to decorate my cakes  
with cream. I was always dreaming of such a modern  
kitchen helper. How did you know, dear Santa Claus? Oh  
yes, you are all-knowing." She  
fumbled with the gun looking at it. "There must be a  
button to start the gadget… Ah here is something." And  
then she pointed the gun in my direction. I moved  
backwards and she smiled: "Are you afraid of a little  
cream, Santa Claus? It isn't even filled with cream  
now. Let me try this button…"

At this moment, officers, I couldn't stand it any  
longer. I hurried over to the window, smashed it and  
jumped out. I almost lost my life. Please help me!"

Starsky and Hutch looked at the picture of misery in  
front of them and Hutch said: "Okay, we'll look after  
the old woman. You wanna join us?"

"No! Please don't do that to me! Leave me here. I  
won't escape," begged the man and Starsky only nodded.  
He cuffed the burglar to the steering wheel and  
then both detectives walked over to the house. More  
windows were illuminated now and when Hutch rang the  
bell, a middle aged woman opened the door. After they  
had introduced themselves the woman smiled and said:  
"Please come in." She led the detectives into the  
living room where the family sat  
together: Father , mother and two children. In  
their middle obviously the grandma of the  
family.

"Hum…," Hutch cleared his voice, "We're a little  
worried about that thing," and he pointed to the gun  
that was lying on the table.

"We were worried too when we woke up because of the  
noise of a broken window," the mother said. "We came  
into the living room and saw Grandma still with the  
gun in her hand…"

"And then?" Starsky asked curiously.

"Let me explain it to you, officers," Grandma smiled.

"I was indeed very astonished and, honestly  
speaking, a little frightened when I walked  
through the house because I couldn't sleep. I  
saw the man in our living room. I also noticed that  
all our presents from under the tree were gone and the  
man was playing with the model railway,totally  
absorbed.

A big sac was lying beside the man and I guessed that  
all our presents were in it. So I decided to trick him  
and save our Christmas. I called him Santa  
Claus and welcomed him.

But when I found the gun in the sac I had  
to make him leave the house. Wasn't my worst idea to  
pretend it was a kitchen helper to decorate a cake  
with cream, was it?" smiled Grandma proudly and  
little Timmy hugged his grandma and said: "You're up  
to every trick!"

Then the little boy looked around and asked: "Who's  
going to play model railway with me?"

"Me!" Starsky said without thinking. He  
blushed a bit and added: "Sorry, but we have to  
go, I think."

"Not before you have tried Grandma's eggnog," insisted  
the father of the family. Soon they were sitting round  
the table; there was laughter, joy and harmony.  
Grandma even asked for the burglar to join them  
because she felt pity for him but Hutch said  
that the man wasn't in any condition to stay  
with them.

Hutch's gaze fell on his partner who was sitting on  
the floor next to Timmy. Both were lost in their game  
– little trains were running and the stationmaster's  
cap suited Starsky quite well…

Suddenly Hutch had to think of something.  
He asked for  
the telephone and was led into the hall.

"Hey, what's up, man?" Huggy grumbled but when he  
heard about Hutch's problem he promised to do all he  
could to help.

Hutch looked out the door and saw the man still  
sitting in the Torino. "Are you going to leave  
already?" asked Lisa, Timmy's older sister, and Hutch  
shook his head.

"No, I'm just thinking of the man in the car over  
there. Though he broke into your house he's a lonely  
man. Maybe he should join us. Would you come with me  
to convince him that your grandma isn't at all nuts  
and that he needn't be afraid of her?"

"Of course," Lisa smiled and a short time later the  
man was pulled and pushed carefully into the living  
room. Grandma stood up to welcome him and hesitantly  
he grabbed her hand. He was offered something to drink  
and to eat and his eyes looked a little damp.

"Let's celebrate Christmas together," Grandma said  
looking around. All gathered around the Christmas  
tree, but Hutch put his hand on Starsky's shoulder.  
Starsky looked up and understood. He got up and both  
detectives said their goodbyes. Before they left the  
house they looked back to the living room and saw the  
new guest sitting next to Timmy on the floor…

"Well, my place or your place?" Starsky asked and  
looked surprised when Hutch said. "Mine first."

They drove in silence and Hutch tried to arrange his  
thoughts. He wasn't sure if Huggy had been able to  
help him with it all. He took Starsky's wrist to  
see what time it was.

"Night's almost over, buddy," Starsky smiled. They  
turned into the small way to the cottage when Starsky  
suddenly froze.

"Huuu…tch, can you see what I see? There's a reindeer  
in your front garden with lights…Can't be possible…  
though this is your  
place, right?"

Hutch didn't say anything. He followed Starsky  
who stopped to admire the reindeer. Hutch opened  
the door, stepped in, smiled and called: "Starsk, come  
in. We have a guest, and it's no housebreaker."

In two long strides Hutch was near Huggy and pulled  
him into a tight hug. "Don't know how to thank  
you, friend," he mumbled squeezing him again  
till Huggy joked: "Baby, not now, I have a  
headache." Hutch smiled, released him and looked at  
Starsky who had entered the house.

"Huggy, didn't expect to see you here at this  
time. What's up?"

"Had a little to do here, and by the way: Merry  
Christmas! Don't forget our party tonight. See ya!"  
and with a pat on Starsky's back Huggy left them  
alone.

There was a sudden silence. The room was dark except  
one light next to the table. Hutch stood with his back  
to Starsky. He fumbled with the ribbon of a bigger  
package on the table, then turned round and cleared  
his throat.

"Starsk, don't know how to say this but in the last  
couple of weeks when you were in your Christmas  
mood…"

"I got on your nerves, right?" Starsky interrupted.

"Sorry, but I just get this feeling, you know? Hey, I'm  
Jewish, but I know the meaning of Christmas. I don't  
mean to get on your nerves, but-"

"Stop it," Hutch interrupted him. He went over to the  
kitchen window and looked out into the garden where  
the reindeer was sparkling.

"This evening it became clear to me that I'll  
never have the caring family I've wished for. This  
evening we've been with a family that shared the  
laughter and the joy and, I'm sure, the sorrow with  
each other and they're able to give their sympathy to  
a man who broke into their house.

Not to concentrate on myself but giving joy to the  
people I love, that's the right Christmas spirit. This  
is my Christmas present for you." Hutch pointed to the  
big package. Instead of opening it Starsky walked  
past it toward Hutch. Before Hutch could react Starsky  
had slung his arms round Hutch's neck. Time stood  
still as they held each other tight.

"Woah, that's incredible!" Starsky couldn't believe  
what he saw: A brand-new model railway with many  
wagons and engines. Carefully he took one engine out  
of the package and admired it.

Hutch smiled.  
For a brief moment he had to think  
of the present he had intended to give to Starsky: A  
donation to a project in the Third World…Minnie at the  
precinct would be glad to get that special  
gift from Hutch this year…

"Thanks so much, Hutch! And Merry Christmas to you!"

"Merry Christmas to you too, buddy! But  
don't you think we should go over to your place? It's  
decorated so much better than my place and you can set  
up your model railway there at once…"

"You're right, Blondie, but only if you promise that  
next year we'll celebrate Christmas at your place. The  
reindeer is already there," Starsky smiled.

They left the cottage and Starsky had just put his  
present in the trunk and was about to climb behind the  
steering wheel, when Hutch mumbled, more speaking to  
himself: "You're my family, Starsk!"

"What was that?" Starsky asked but Hutch refused to  
repeat it. "Too soapy, buddy."

"Hey, I wanna know!" Starsky said. Hutch only  
smiled and Starsky came around the car, an evil grin  
on his face. "Well, I've got my ways of making you  
speak…," and he poked Hutch in the side knowing that  
he was very ticklish there. Hutch gave a yelp and  
tried to escape. Soon they were chasing each other  
round the car…

The End

Author's comment: Let's hope that they at last got to  
Starsky's to celebrate Hutch's first real Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all!

10


End file.
